I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
今天，我很高興能在這里與你們共同進行歷史上為了我們的國家與自由而進行的最偉大的一次示威游行。100年前，一位偉大的美國人簽署了解放黑奴宣言，今天我們就是站在他的靈魂安息處集會。這一莊嚴宣言猶如燈塔的光芒，給千萬在那摧殘生命的不義之火中備受煎熬的黑奴帶來了希望。它之到來猶如歡樂的黎明，結(jié)束了束縛黑人的漫漫長夜。

But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. 100 years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. 100 years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. 100 years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
然而，100年后的今天，我們必須正視黑人還沒有得到自由這一悲慘的事 實：100年后的今天，在種族隔離的鐐銬和種族歧視的枷鎖下，黑人備受壓榨；100年后的今天，黑人仍生活在物質(zhì)充裕的海洋在一個貧困的孤島上；100年后的今天，黑人仍舊在美國社會的一隅受苦受難，并且發(fā)現(xiàn)自己竟然是自己所在國土上的流亡者。今天我們在這里集會，就是要把這駭人聽聞的情況公之于眾。

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."
就某種意義而言，今天我們是為了要求兌現(xiàn)諾言而匯集到我們國家的首都來的。我們共和國的締造者草擬憲法和獨立宣言的氣壯山河的詞句時，曾向每一個美國人許下了諾言，他們承諾給予所有人以生存、自由和追求幸福的不可剝奪的權(quán)利。就有色公民而論，美國顯然沒有實踐他的諾言。美國沒有履行這項神圣的義務(wù)，只是給黑人開了一張空頭支票，支票上蓋著“資金不足”的戳子便給退了回來。

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
但是我們決不相信，正義的銀行已經(jīng)破產(chǎn)；我們決不相信，在這個國家存儲給予的巨大金庫里竟然沒有足夠的儲備。因此，今天我們要求兌現(xiàn)支票，這張支票將給予我們寶貴的自由和正義的保障。我們來到這塊圣地也是為了提醒美國，現(xiàn)在是非常急迫的時刻?，F(xiàn)在絕非侈談冷靜下來或服用漸進主義的鎮(zhèn)靜劑的時刻。現(xiàn)在是實踐民主諾言的時候?，F(xiàn)在是從黑暗荒涼的種族隔離的深淵中崛起，向陽光普照的種族平等的道路上奮進的時刻?，F(xiàn)在是把我們的國家從種族不平等的流沙中拯救出來，置于兄弟情誼的磐石 之上的時候?，F(xiàn)在是讓上帝所有的兒女開放機會之門的時刻。

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.1963 is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
倘若這個國家忽視了此刻緊迫的形勢，低估了黑人的決心，那將造成致命的后果。這一黑人合理不滿的悶熱夏季將不會過去，直到自由平等的爽朗秋季來臨。一九六三年不是終結(jié)，而是開端。倘若國家一如既往恢復原樣，那些希望黑人只是需要出出氣，現(xiàn)在可以滿意的人將會大失所望。美國將沒有安寧和平靜，除非黑人獲得了他們的公民權(quán)。反抗的旋風將繼續(xù)震撼我們國家的基礎(chǔ)，直到公正的晴天出現(xiàn)。